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26 June 2010

Where to begin?

Where to begin? My first adventure in to the blogosphere. A food & wine lover I thought I would share.

Well the fog has finally clearedin Auckland to a beautiful sunny winter's day & I am looking forward to an afternoon in the kitchen. Stock is cooking for a big pot of chicken soup & about to make my first foray in to pate making. Plus a new salmon recipe to be tried out for tonight's dinner.
Not much beats a bowl of homemade chicken soup, it truly is good for the soul & I always like to have a stash in the freezer for a quick, healthy & light dinner. Everyone has their own variation. Mine is adapted from a couple of old favourites - Tyler Florence's chicken noodle soup sans noodles and one from an old issue of donna hay magazine plus a little inspiration from my Mum's Scotch Broth - so barley & lentils added to make it extra thick & delicious. And it really what couldn't be easier.
For the stock,,,Place a chicken and turnip, halved, a carrot, a parsnip, halved, an onion, halved, a few celery stalks, a couple of garlic cloves, a few peppercorns, a few bay leaves & a few sprigs of thyme in a large stockpot over medium heat. Pour in only enough cold water to cover. Lower heat & gently simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.Sieve to remove the vegetables, chop up the chicken & return it to the stock. Add whatever diced vegetables, barely & lentils you like. This is a great way to use up any veg you have lying around. Today I added barley & lentils - I like a lot of barley as makes the soup extra thick. Plus carrot, turnip, parsnip, chopped cavelonero. Season well & simmer until the vegetables are tender - & that is it - delicious, healthy, heart warming food. With fresh crusty bread, yum!Now on to the pate,,,